Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar pop-up, which captivated New York City last year, is expanding its festive footprint dramatically due to overwhelming demand. Event creator Bucket Listers has announced that the fully immersive, custom-designed experience will debut simultaneously across four major U.S. markets this season: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas. This massive, multi-city rollout aims to bring the “Queen of Christmas” aesthetic to fans nationwide, regardless of their local climate.
Scaling the Queen of Christmas’s World
The endeavor to launch four intricate, themed venues in parallel presented significant logistical and creative challenges. CEO and Founder of Bucket Listers, Andy Lederman, highlighted the complexity, stating, “Expanding to four cities at once is an ambitious undertaking, one that requires a seamless coordination between our teams to ensure there is a proper flow and coordinatino of the massive logistics involved—custom décor builds, different venue layouts, and even tighter timelines—but the real challenge is maintaining the signature Mariah-inspired magic across all markets.” He noted the necessity of high standards: “We built four immersive holiday worlds in parallel, each with its own local personality but at the same level of detail any fan would expect.”
To manage the high volume of guests while preserving the exclusive, winter wonderland feel, the team relies on careful planning. Lederman explained, “We rely on tactics like timed entry, a strong event flow design, and elevated sensory elements to keep experiences high for all our guests. Even at high volume, the lighting, décor layers, and sound engineering create an atmosphere that feels worthy of The Queen of Christmas.” The star’s biggest hit anchors this atmosphere: “Playing ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ every 30 minutes creates a fun, unifying moment that anchors the entire experience… The fans go nuts every single time it plays, and there is no better feeling than seeing them bring the magic alive.”
Tropical Glam and High-Roller Specs
The expansion to warmer climates, such as Miami and Las Vegas, required adding unique, site-specific touches to the décor and ambiance. Lederman revealed, “Miami and Vegas deserved their own unique twists, so we are adding tropical-holiday glam and outdoor-friendly moments in Miami, while Vegas leans into spectacle and shimmer that performance-driven energy of Sin City would expect. Each location feels true to Mariah’s world but still authentic to its city.” One thing that lends an extra touch to the spectacle and shimmer of the Las Vegas pop-up is that it takes place at Park MGM, the home of Mariah Carey’s upcoming limited-run Christmas residency (get your tickets here).
The cocktail menu further integrates Mariah Carey’s personal brand, Black Irish cream. The beverage program was designed to showcase the product’s versatility in various seasonal sips, with Lederman noting the menu “shows off its versatility—from warm holiday sips to lighter festive cocktails.” The team predicts the Merry & Bright cocktail will be the standout this year, as it “perfectly captures the cozy, celebratory spirit we want the bar to embody.” To enhance fan engagement and social media shareability, the pop-up features expanded interactive elements, including upgraded “Queen of Christmas” installations and holiday album backdrop recreations, ensuring guests leave with highly shareable content.
